Bumble

Bumble is a free-location based dating application that has the same format as Tinder in that it allows users to swipe and browse through various of profiles of singles in that same location and swipe right if they are interested and left if they are not. If two people swipe right on each other, indicating that they are both interested, than a match occurs. Unlike Tinder, Bumble is unique because its users are usually more educated, better looking and more serious about finding a relationship. Additionally, although the application allows users to choose filters in order to accommodate their sexual orientation, in heterosexual matches, women are required to initiate the conversation. The match has 24 hours to reply until their message disappears. Although Bumble seems to be a better application for women in that they are the only ones that can initiate the conversation and safer in that it requires users connect their Facebook account to the app, Bumble still stirs up controversy regarding safety, privacy, the "hookup" culture Bumble encourages along with technical and user-experience issues.

History

Whitney Wolfe created Bumble after leaving Tinder which she also cofounded. Wolfe sued Tinder for sexual discrimination and sexual harassment and settled her lawsuit for over $1 million in September, 2014. After feeling incredibly lost and sad after receiving much backlash from her trial, Wolfe set out to create a woman-centric application where women could have the power to initiate a connection if she found one.

With the help of her cofounder and one of her biggest supporters during her trial, Andrey Andreev, former CEO of Badoo (a dating website with more than 250 million users), she created Bumble, in order to give women a chance to avoid any aggressive and raunchy pickup lines that she personally witnessed while at Tinder. Bumble was created to give women the chance to make the first move and "be in the drivers seat".

After recruiting two more Tinder cofounders that also departed, Chris Gulzcynski and Sarah Mick, Bumble was launched in 2014 and was marketed to young adults and college sororities. . According to Business Insider, 60% of matches on Bumble are turned into conversations. Women feel more comfortable to start matches with people and men are not inclined to make the first move.

As of 2017, Bumble has more 20 million users worldwide, with more than 50,000 new members joining everyday. It is worth more than $450 million and is growing exponentially.

How Bumble Works

Bumble is a free app for both IOS and Android. The app first started on college campuses and was encouraged to be a safer and more effective way of meeting young singles . In order to use the app, users are first required to login to the app by connecting their Facebook profile. This allows users to gain access to photos and information on their Facebook profile, as well as Once users connect their Facebook they are taken to a filter page where they can narrow down singles in their area by filtering based on different criteria such as: age, gender, and distance. Users also have to create their own profile in which they can submit up to five photos of themselves, write a short biography and connect their Spotify account to showcase their music taste.

Bumble also prides itself on being a safer version of Tinder in that it is the first app that allows users to submit a photo to verify their account.

The Free Version

When using the free version app, users can scroll through several profiles of different people in the distance they allotted, and swipe through photos in order to see what their potential match looks like. Users also have the option to "SuperSwipe" their matches (meaning that they can indicate to their match that they have an increased level of interest and their match will get a notification of this). . Additionally, users have three chances per 24 hours to go back to the profile of someone they may have accidentally swiped left on. This rematch feature allows users to get a second chance to see a profile they may have already made a decision on. Once a match is indicated, in the heterosexual version, the woman has 24 hours to message her match. Once the 24 hours are over, the match disappears. Men, though, do have the option to increase the time on a woman they are interested in. By extending the time, the woman is made aware that her match is interested.

Bumble Boost: The Subscription Service

In August 2016, Bumble launched a subscription service - Bumble Boost- for $9.99/month. . The subscription service allows three new features: Beeline, Rematch, and BusyBee to boost the personal dating experience. Beeline will allow users to see an archived list of users that have already liked them. Rematch allows users to rematch with users that they did not message after 24 hours for an additional 24 hours. Busybee extends the 24 hours time so users have a longer time to message a user if they are not on the app.

Bumble Bizz and Bumble BFF

In addition to the standard dating use of the app, Bumble has also released different features that allow users to use the same Bumble app but in a different way. Bumble Bizz and Bumble BFF are two versions of the original app that allows users to use Bumble services for their professional and social needs. Single people are not the only users anymore in that Bumble launched these two versions in order to appeal to a more diverse audience.

Bumble Bizz is a new version of the app designed for networking and mentoring. It takes on the same concept as the dating Bumble version in that women are required to make the first move and reach out for professional connections. Bumble Bizz was designed in order to give women confidence in networking situations and take control of their professional lives. Users can submit their resume, skill section and examples of their work. The app is designed to help women network, not find find jobs. .

Bumble BFF, is also similar to the original version of the app except it is designed to allow women meet other women and develop friendships. The app works the exact same way as Bumble except that either woman can initiate conversation.

Users

Bumble currently has over 22 million users as of November 2017. . Females make up 55% of users and the most popular age range of users is between the ages of 18-25. The app has also moderated so that obscured faces, mirror pictures and gun pictures are banned from the app. This allows users to showcase their true identity and not deceive their potential matches. Bumble has more than 10 million matches and 800 billion swipes per month.

Ethical Implications

Safety

One of the main problems that Bumble users have experienced, is the fact that often times people use fake pictures on their profiles. Deception is a main problem for Bumble users because often times users are apprehensive to connect and meet with their matches because they are uncertain about whether the person in the pictures is really the person in real life. Bumble is aware of this safety issue and introduced photo verification.

The verification process will randomly show users several different poses that a user will have to mimic. Bumble ensures that the person in the poses matches the person in the pictures. Bumble will verify users in seconds to make sure that their profile is efficiently verified. Although it is not required to verify an account, if a profile is reported as being fake, users must verify their profile within 7 days or their account will be deleted.